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Studies LICHFIELD AND SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL StaffordshireSOCIET Y

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FOR 1966-7 SampleCounty

VOLUME VIII

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PRESS OF TITUS WILSON & SON 28 HIGHGATE, KENDAL, WESTMORLAND 1968 Staffordshire

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The publication of the Wall excavation report has been made possible by a grant towards the cost of printing by the Council for British Archaeology. The Society is grateful for this help, also for the contributions of both the Ministry of Public Building and Works and the County Record Committee of the Staffordshire County Council towards the cost of the papers by Mr. Adrian Oswald and Mr. Gerald Mander respectively. SampleCounty

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© Lichfield and South Staffordshire Archaeological and Historical Society 1968

Printed in Great Britain StaffordshireCONTENT S Page EXCAVATIONS AT WALL, STAFFS., 1964-6, ON THE SITE OF THE ROMAN FORTS J. GOULD, F.S.A 1

OBSERVATION ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE BY-PASS ROAD AT WALL, STAFFS. ADRIAN OSWALD, F.S.A. 39

WITHY LANE OF BENTLEY, STAFFS. - A GENEALOGICAL REVISION GERALD MANDER, F.S.A. 42 APPENDIX — GERALD MANDER AND THE WOLVERHAMPTON ANTIQUARY J. W. WHISTON SampleCounty 45 CROXALL, STAFFS. - AN AIR PHOTOGRAPH OF A DESERTED MEDIEVAL VILLAGE J. W. WHISTON 46

AMINGTON, WARWICKSHIRE - A DESERTED MEDIEVAL VILLAGE SITE JAMES PICKERING 48

TOLL HOUSE, JAMES BRIDGE, DARLASTON, STAFFS. Studies J. W. WHISTON 48

DESERTED MEDIEVAL VILLAGES OF STAFFORDSHIRE AND ADJACENT AREAS 49

CHURCH HOUSE, ABBOTS BROMLEY, STAFFS.

F. W. B. CHARLES 51

OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES OF THE SOCIETY 55

PROGRAMME, 1966-7 56 StaffordshireLIST OF PLATE S AND FIGURES Page EXCAVATIONS AT WALL (STAFFS.), 1964-6 Plate I The punic ditch ...... facing p. 7 Fig. 1 Plan of the defences of the second-century fort ..... 1 Fig. 2 Plan of the flat-bottomed (drainage) ditch and of the punic ditch . . 3 Fig. 3 Part of the section and plan of Trench W 5 Fig. 4 Section YA of punic ditch ...... 5 Fig. 5 Section WB of flat-bottomed ditch 5 Fig. 6 Site X. Section and plan ...... 6 Fig. 7 The brooches ...... 16 Fig. 8 Decorated samian pottery ...... 18 Fig. 9 Potters' stamps on samian ware, Gallo-Belgic ware and on mortaria . 21 Fig. 10 Coarse pottery associated with flat-bottomed ditch and with construc• tion trench, Site X 24 Fig. 11 Coarse pottery associated with punic ditch ..... 26 Fig. 12 Coarse pottery from the Neronian rubbish layer .... 28 Fig. 13 Coarse potterSampley from the NeroniaCountyn rubbish layer and unstratifie d . 30 Fig. 14 Medieval pottery ...... 32 Fig. 15 Military bronzes ...... 33 Fig. 16 Iron and other metal objects ...... 34 Fig. 17 Objects in stone, shale, flint and glass ...... 35

OBSERVATIONS ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE BY-PASS ROAD AT WALL (STAFFS.) Fig. 1 Area of the by-pass road ...... facing p. 39 Fig. 2 Pottery 41 CROXALL (STAFFS.) - AN AIR PHOTOGRAPH OF A DESERTED MEDIEVAStudiesL VILLAGE Plate I Air photograph (8 Dec. 1948) facing p. 46

AMINGTON (WARKS.) A DESERTED MEDIEVAL SITE Plate la Air photograph, 1965 ...... facing p. 48

TOLL HOUSE, JAMES BRIDGE, DARLASTON (STAFFS.) Plate lb Toll House, James Bridge, Darlaston, 1960 .... facing p. 48

CHURCH HOUSE, ABBOTS BROMLEY (STAFFS.) Plate la After Restoration, 1967 ...... facing p. 51 Plate lb Buckler's View, 1839 facing p. 51 Fig. 1 Plan and Elevation, c. 1550 ...... 51 Fig. 2 Plan and Elevation, c. 1619 ...... 52 EXCAVATIONS AT WALL (STAFFORDSHIRE), 1964-6, StaffordshireON THE SITE OF THE ROMAN FORTS J. GOULD, F.S.A.

INTRODUCTION THESE EXCAVATIONS WERE conducted on the western slope of the hill on which the modern village of Wall stands (Nat. Grid SK 098067). At the foot of the slope lie the remains of the bath-house; a series of Roman forts is known to have occupied the hill-top, whilst along the southern slopes runs the Roman Watling Street, passing through the late civilian defences1. It was hoped that these excavations would reveal the western defences of the known forts, especially as the outline of the upper part of three defensive ditches had been revealed when house A (fig. 1) had been rebuilt and a new drive cut. A further reason for excavation was that the western extension of the churchyard (fig. 1, site Z) was likely to come into use in the near future and excavation there was desirable before dedication.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks are due to the MinistrSampley of Public BuildinCountyg and Works who mad e a grant towards the cost of the mechanical movement of soil in the churchyard extension (fig. 1, site Z), to the Vicar of Wall and his Parochial Church Council who permitted work there and to Mrs. C. M. Bather who willingly allowed excavation on her land (fig. 1, sites W, X and Y). Mr. and Mrs. K. Cutler kindly continued to permit the storage of tools etc. on their property. The work was undertaken by members of the Lichfield and South Staffordshire Archaeological and Historical Society, who worked each Saturday and for longer periods at holiday times. It is impossible to list all who assisted but the brunt of the work was borne by Misses J. Lawrence, G. K. Mills, H. Moore, E. Reed, G. Taylor, J. Weatherhead, Mrs. M. Allcock, Mrs. G. Drury, Mrs. D. Gould, Dr. J. G. L. Cole, Rev. S. B. Coley, Messrs. J. Brangan, I. Davidson, F. Devey, B. Haywood, F. H. Lyon, G. Perry, A. A. Round Studiesand J. W. Whiston. The digging was often under very unpleasant conditions due to the waterlogged ground and to the constantly recurring, unbelievably powerful stench that arose from the decaying bodies of recently drowned worms. Despite all difficulties the team remained keen and cheerful throughout and it was a privilege to work with them. Dr. Graham Webster occasionally visited the site, distributing his usual advice, encouragement and specialist information. Specialist advice and comment were also given by Dr. D. B. Harden, Mr. B. R. Hartley, Mrs. K. F. Hartley, Dr. J. Kent, Mr. K. J. Barton, Mr. M. M. Hallett, Mr. D. F. Mackreth, Mr. N. Thomas, Mr. R. P. Wright, and Mr. A. Oswald. Mr. A. L. F. Rivet, kindly read the paper and made helpful suggestions. Thanks are also due to 'Christopher' who drove the mechanical excavator which was used on site Z; how he repeatedly prevented it from overturning and extricated it from the morass there, bordered on the miraculous. Mr. F. H. Linney, curator of the bath site was also helpful and drew attention to surface finds by villagers.

1 Trans., v, 1964, p. 14, fig. 12. 2 EXCAVATIONS AT WALL (STAFFORDSHIRE) 1964-6

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Studies DITCHES EXCAVATION TRENCHES Fig. 1 Plan of the defences of the second-century fort

GEOLOGY Professor H. Thorpe, has pointed out elsewhere2 that above the 350 ft. contour, the hill at Wall consists of a cap of Lower Keuper Sandstone, below which is Upper Mottled Sandstone of the Bunter series. As elsewhere, the Lower Keuper Sandstone at Wall contains bands of marl3 through which water does not percolate, though water can and does drain freely through the coarse sand subsoil and through the Bunter Sandstone. On the crest of the hill, the subsoil is thin and the Lower Keuper Sandstone comes close to the surface. Below the crest, the bands of marl give rise to artesian conditions, and there is a constant flow of water through the sandy subsoil into the Bunter Sandstone. The extent of these conditions

• T.B.A.S., lxxiv, 1958, p. 26. • F. H. Edmunds and K. P. Oakley, British Regional Geology - The Central District of England, 1953, p. 56. 24 EXCAVATIONS AT WALL (STAFFORDSHIRE) 1964-6

6. A well-made jar in light-grey fabric with a black, matt, outer surface and deeply cut horizontal body grooves. Such grooves were found on pottery at Great Casterton in pits 1 and 2 and considered by Dr. Corder to have Belgic associations as with Verulamium form 61. See Great Casterton I, p. 8, fig. 5, Nos. 7, 11, 24; Great Casterton StaffordshireIII, p. 42, fig. 14, Nos. 13, 14, 16; p. 43, fig. 15, No. 41. 7. Pillar-rusticated jar in sandy, grey fabric, and two others slightly smaller; probably A.D. 80-120. See Ant. J., xxxviii, 1958, p. 24. 8. Large, coarse, grey jar. See Great Casterton II, p. 9, fig. 2, No. 13; where a similar jar was found in deposits below the rampart. 9. Small jar in true, biscuit-like, black-burnished fabric, having the characteristic rough interior and horizontally burnished lip and shoulder. 10. Black-burnished cooking-pot and one other, slightly smaller. See Jewry Wall, p. 14, fig. 26, No. 13; Gillam, p. 54, No. 121 where a date A.D. 125-160 is suggested for this form in North Britain. 11. Black-burnished cooking-pot with different rim; first half of second century.

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12. Black-burnished cooking-pot and two others, slightly larger and thicker, first half of second century.

From the trampled top of otherwise undisturbed sub-soil, east of the fiat-bottomed ditch Staffordshire13. Heavily gritted jar, badly fired and crumbly , found crushed into very small fragments, dull-brown inner surface, black outer surface; thoroughly native in character.

Unstratified 14. Small jar, burnished, black and heavily gritted but smooth and well made, Belgic in character. See Dorchester, p. 132, fig. 12, No. 14. See also No. 47 below.

POTTERY ASSOCIATED WITH THE PUNIC DITCH (FIG. 11) From the diagonal construction trench revealed in excavation trench X 15. Carinated bowl in black-burnished fabric but without lattice decoration. This form is not closely datable and is found in second and third century contexts. 16. Black-burnished bowl See Jewry Wall, p. 82, fig. 19, No. 5; second or third century. 17. Cup in light-grey fabric imitating a late samian form (Ludovici Tf?), hence probably third century. See Richborough II, pi. XXXII, Nos. 172, 173 for similar imitations though in different fabric. 18. Jar in light-grey fabric but with darker surface. See Jewry Wall, p. 96, fig. 25, No. 14, where third or fourth century. From the primary silt of theSample punic ditch County 19. Necked jar in a hard, grey, Roman fabric, but related to the well known Belgic form, of which there is a good example in native fabric in the museum at Wall. See Swarling, pi. IX, Nos. 22, 25; T.B.A.S. lxxix, 1964, p. 17, fig. 5, Nos. 3, 5-9. 20. Light-grey jar with darker surface and pillar rustication; two other similar jars. The development of this type of pottery has been discussed by F. H. Thompson (Ant. J., xxxviii, 1958, p. 24). These particular examples are probably Flavian-Trajanic.

From the deliberate filling of the punic ditch In addition to the following were large sherds from the body of a vesicular storage jar, decorated with vertical brush marks, fragments of a mica-dusted bowl in native fabric and small pieces of hard white rouletted butt or girth beakers. Studies 21. Black-burnished cooking-pot with acute lattice decoration, and zigzag burnishing on the neck; three other similar pots and two more but without the neck decoration. See Gillam, p. 53, fig. 13, No. 119; A.D. 125-160 in North Britain. 22. Carinated dish in black-burnished fabric. See Gillam, p. 71, fig. 31, Nos. 316-318. 23. Deeper dish in similar fabric. See Gillam, p. 63, fig. 23, No. 220; A.D. 125-160 in North Britain. 24. Small, globular jar with shoulder grooves and triangular rouletting or stabbing. See Wroxeter I, p. 71, fig. 17, No. 26, for similar though larger vessel; A.D. 80-110. 25. See No. 6 above for almost identical jar. 26. Jar in light-grey fabric with darker surface. See Jewry Wall, p. 156, fig. 42, No. 48; there A.D. 125-130. 27. Dish in dull-pink fabric with traces of mica dusting. See Wroxeter I, p. 71, fig. 17, No. 22, for a similar though smaller dish, there A.D. 80-110. 28. Bowl or lid in light-grey fabric with slightly darker surface. 29. Carinated bowl in brownish-pink fabric. See Jewry Wall, p. 156, fig. 42, No. 7, for a similar bowl in grey fabric, A.D. 125-130. 26 EXCAVATIONS AT WALL (STAFFORDSHIRE) 1964-6

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Fig. 11 Coarse pottery associated with punic ditch (J)

From the top filling of the punic ditch and not securely stratified 30. Base of a small vessel in St. Remy ware, hard white fabric, with greenish-yellow, trans• parent glaze, more yellow on inner than on outer surface. See Silchester, pp. 100, 101, and T.B.A.S., lxxix, 1964, p. 17, No. 10 for another example of thiStudiess ware from Wall. 31. Jar in soft, red, Roman fabric with brown glaze inside and out. For other examples of Roman glazed pottery see Trans., vi, 1966, pp. 11-13, Nos. 7, 8, 27, 28. See also N.S.J.F.S., ii, p. 44, fig. 3, No. 5.

POTTERY ASSOCIATED WITH THE NERONIAN RUBBISH LAYER, SITE W (FIGS. 9, 12 AND 13) From the lower Neronian layer 32. Base of a polished Gallo-Belgic vessel in brittle, black egg-shell ware, walls 0.03 in. thick, stamp of Belius on the underside of the base, towards the edge. See Richborough IV, p. 241 for this potter; see also Camulodunum, p. 241, form 120A. 33. Handled bowl in hard, white fabric, the exact shape of the handle is uncertain. No exact parallel has been found, but the profile is reminiscent of some Gallo-Belgic beakers, see Camulodunum, pi. LIV, Nos. 73, 74. Comparison should also be made with the Iron Age bowl from the Romano-Celtic temple at Woodeaton (Oxoniensia, xix, 1955, p. 32, fig. 11, K) and with Bagendon, p. 255, fig. 60, No. 14. 34. Hofheim type flagon in sandy, pink fabric, and one other in brownish-buff fabric with smooth surface. See Richborough IV, pi. LXXXV, No. 369. OBSERVATION ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROAD TO StaffordshireBY-PASS WALL , STAFFS. ADRIAN OSWALD, F.S.A.

DURING 1965 A NEW ROAD was built to the south of Wall (National Grid Reference SK 101065) to by-pass the village and relieve the narrow main road, A5, which carried heavy motor traffic through the centre of the village. The old road is on the line of the Roman Watling Street (fig. 1). Work on the construction of the new road was observed, for the Ministry of Public Building and Works, over a period of six months and during this time full facilities were willingly given by the contractors, Messrs. Tarmac. Mr. J. Gould and some of his regular team of volunteers, who were excavating a Roman site in another part of Wall, north of the Watling Street, helped in the work on the cemetery site. Excavations in advance of the construction of the new road were carried out in fields 75 & 248 by the Society in 1963-4, under the direction of Mr. J. Gould.1 The following are notes on the observations, working from east to west. The approximate positions of the features are indicated by letters on the map (fig. 1), the field numbers are those used by the Ordnance Survey, and the field boundaries are based on the 6 in. Ordnance Survey map, 1903 edn. SampleCounty Field 240 (A) Slight ditches, timber slots, were noticed in the north-eastern corner. Air photographs, taken by Mr. James Pickering, showed traces of a rectangular enclosure in this field.

Field 248 (B) A ditch, 3 ft. 6 in. wide and 2 ft. 6 in. deep, was seen running north-east/ south-west in the centre of the southern half of this field. Second-century mortaria were found in the ditch. Field 75 (C) Overlying the peat, immediately north of the new roadStudies, were first-century pottery, bones of oxen, and fragments of millstones. Cp. Trans., v, 1965, p. 15.

Field 76 (D) The mechanical grader revealed, in the north-eastern corner, a section of what appeared to be the Ryknield Street. This was cut at an angle and the measurements are, therefore, approximate. The width of the road was 24 ft., covered with gravel above the natural soil and cambered, being 15 in. above the natural soil at the highest point. There was a ditch 2 ft. wide immediately on the west and two ditches, 4 ft. 6 in. wide, on the eastern and western sides at 26 ft. and 18 ft. respectively from the road. The depths of the ditches could not be ascertained. This is similar to the section published in T.B.A.S., lx, 1940, p. 54.

Field 77 (E) A portion of a timber structure was excavated 56 ft. west of the intersection of the north boundary of the new road and the eastern field hedge. Two timber slots were found and, at the south-western corner, a post-hole. The structure had a sand and gravel

1 Trans, vi, 1966, pp. 1-18. 40 OBSERVATION - BY-PASS ROAD AT WALL, STAFFORDSHIRE

floor, and from a burnt deposit on the floor were recovered a handled beaker (fig. 2.2), almost complete, and some rubbed samian ware (a fragment of form 18 and some second-century Staffordshirefragments). Field 63 (Chesterfield Croft) (F) Half-way along the eastern side of the field and on the west of the feeder road, a ditch 6 ft. wide and 4 ft. deep was exposed. It had been filled with stones and subsequently levelled up. There was second-century pottery between the fillings of the ditch and traces of timber slots.

Field 117 (G) At the south-eastern corner was a pit, 4 ft. 6 in. deep and 4 ft. wide, with a peaty and rapid-silt deposit, containing fragments of undatable Roman pottery. A post-hole and a stone-lined well with no dating evidence were exposed; also, a pebble floor, 20 ft. long in section, with a grey silt deposit and eighteenth-century pottery above.

Field 55 (H) In the south-western corner of the field adjoining the stream there was con• siderable evidence of Roman occupation of the second/third century, and a road (?) extending into field 90. This appears to be a prolongation of a feature shown in Mr. Pickering's air photographs in field 60, which show as two parallel banks or walls, running south-west from the Baths. SampleCounty

2 Fig. 2 Pottery from area of by-pass road Studies

(J) East of the stream, immediately south of the Watling Street and 75 ft. south• east of the new culvert, were two rough stone walls running east and west. They were laid directly on the peat and were perhaps for a timber superstructure. There were two related clay floors, the lower floor containing some second-century pottery and samian ware. Field 53 (L) Immediately south of the Watling Street and opposite the eastern boundary of field 201, the section of a road was exposed, running north and south, 14 ft. wide and 2 ft. above the natural soil at the highest point; no ditches were seen. Field 201 (M, M) Nine cremation burials at a depth of 15 in.-24 in. below the surface were excavated; all, except one, had been truncated by deep ploughing. One complete vessel (fig. 2.1) contained bone fragments of a very young child. Of the other identifiable objects three were flagons and one a jug. There was also the top of a square Roman glass bottle. From the nail plan, two burials appear to have been made in wooden boxes, and stake-holes on one side of two others suggest perhaps some form of wooden memorial. WITHY LANE OF BENTLEY, STAFFS.—A GENEALOGICAL REVISION StaffordshireGERALD MANDER, F.S.A. SOME YEARS AGO an American lady misread and amplified the heading of one of Emily Bronte's manuscript poems, Love's Farewell, into a romantic episode concerned with a ghostly Louis Parosell. This comes high in the scale of misapprehensions, and must often be cited when literary blunders are remembered. But Louis Parosell was short-lived, and the account of him suppressed. It is possible to point to another simulacrum which has persisted 150 years, and can now, subject however to any life interest, perhaps be laid. This is Withy Lane, a pleasant name reminiscent of a lover's walk, but purporting to be a daughter of the Lanes of Bentley Hall, near Walsall, Staffordshire, and sister of the ever memorable Jane Lane, who saved King Charles II, and of Colonel John Lane her valiant brother. There she is set in the large pedigree of Lane in Stebbing Shaw's History and Antiquities of Staffordshire, ii, 1801, p. 97 - 'Withy Lane=Peters' - and she duly appears in Burke's History of Commoners, 1838, and in every subsequent volume which goes to that source for information. The family genealogist, Henry Murray Lane, Chester Herald, who should have been an authority, gives {Lane of Bentley Hall, 1898, p. 7) 'Withy [the fourth daughter] married John Petre, Esq., of Horton, Bucks.' and says that she with her sisters Jane and Mary (Nicholas) 'shared ... in the concealment and escape of King Charles II, after the battle of Worcester'Sample. General Wrottesley in his unfinished but valuable account of the ancient history of this family (StaffordshirCountye Historical Collection s [S.H.C.], 1910) is content to repeat the accepted version. So we find Allan Fea, usually very sound, in his Flight of the King, revised edn. 1908, p. 73, telling of Mrs. Peters or Petre, the colonel's married sister 'Withy', and her husband. The story thus becomes crystallized. Boscobel and the Royal Oak have long been an attraction for visitors. Both the earnest pilgrim and the stray sightseer continue to gaze upon them. In 1942 King George VI honoured the place with a visit. But at the time that 'Withy' came into being, Boscobel and the Oak had performed their business, and Colonel Lane and Lord Wilmot (themselves marked for arrest) were seeking some means of conveying King Charles to the coast and safety abroad. The colonel's sister, Jane Lane, had obtained from the Governor of StudiesStafford a pass on the 'very fair pretence of going hard by Bristol, to a cousin of hers [an expectant mother] that was married to one Mr. Norton'. And so it was arranged for the King to accompany her as 'Will Jackson' her servant. And here we get a pictorial representation of 'Withy'. The episode of the King riding as groom to a lady riding on a pillion appealed to artists and the public. The subject was chosen, it is said by the Prince Consort, for one of the series of frescoes in the corridor of the House of Commons by E. M. Ward, R.A. (1853), and the trophy for the Goodwood Cup (1844) represented another scene in this romantic escape. Clarendon's History was the first to illustrate it. But most splendid of all was the painting by Sir Edwin Landseer, a reproduc• tion of which is given in H. M. Lane's reprinted work (1910). Here the King, 'Will Jackson' is seen helping the fair daughter of the house to mount the steed which was to carry them on their perilous journey. Old Mrs. Lane is standing on the steps of the Hall. Others include Mrs. Petre (Withy) already mounted and her husband, also Mr. Henry Lassels, a first cousin of Jane's, who alone was in the secret and remained with her throughout. It is possible there may have been some understanding between the two sisters; we are not told. WITHY LANE OF BENTLEY, STAFFORDSHIRE 43

The cavalcade that set out at 'twilight', i.e., daybreak, on the morning of 10 Sept. 1651, is well authenticated by several accounts. The King's version, dictated in 1680 to Pepys (though Blount's is fuller), supplies several details. Mr. & Mrs. Peters were accidentally at Bentley, and being homeward bound, formed part of the company as far as Stratford-upon- StaffordshireAvon, where they branched off. Here the y met a troop of Cromwellian horse, and Mr. Peters showed some panic. That seems to have been his only contribution to the escape. So he and 'Withy' leave the adventure. The King gives a vivid account of his being recognized by Pope the butler at the Nortons'; but the danger did not lie in that direction, but by the miscarriage of the hostess, 'a misfortune that might have done us much prejudice', there being too many people about1. This caused the King to 'counterfeit' a letter of recall from Mr. Lane senior, and with that excuse they got away early next morning. And so they proceeded to Trent (in Dorset) and there Jane Lane and Lassels left the King in good hands and returned home. In a matter of romance one would have expected Harrison Ainsworth in his Boscobel (1872) to have made full play with 'Withy'. But his story keeps closely to the published accounts in the Boscobel Tracts, collected by Hughes in 1830. They do not mention Withy and Harrison Ainsworth did not think of inventing her. Evidence of the correct membership of this generation of the Lane family was withheld until 1912, when the Harleian Society published Gregory King, Rouge Dragon's, Staffordshire Pedigrees, prepared about 1680 for a possible Heraldic Visitation of the County. He was himself a Staffordshire man and likely to know the facts, and makes it clear that the wife of Mr. Peters was Mary LaneSample, the eldest daughteCountyr of five (Jane being th e third), and that she afterwards married Edward Nicholas. Mary's second marriage is supported by a burial of 'Mr. John Peters' at Iver, Bucks, (in which parish Horton lay) in 1658; while a tablet in Manningford Bruce Church, near Marlborough, Wilts., records her death as the wife of Edward Nicholas, 24 Dec. 1686, aged 67 years. It states that she played 'a very considerable part' in the wonderful preservation of the King after the defeat at Worcester - evidently the ride with the King incognito to Stratford, seen in perspective, came to be appreciated in fuller dimensions. The Gentleman's Magazine for 1832, p. 520-1, records a few personal facts visible then on the church memorial slabs, now worn away (the tablet to Mary remains) which are worth noting: (1) Her husband, Edward Nicholas, who was ten years her junior, died of gout in April 1706, aged 77: (2) They had an only son, Edward, whStudieso had predeceased his mother aged 22 (buried 6 Sept. c. 1682-4; the parish register is defective as to the year). The error concerning 'Withy' arose in a peculiar way. Stebbing Shaw, the historian, used for the South Staffordshire part of his work the manuscript of John Huntbach, much of which is still preserved in the William Salt Library, Stafford. The MS. of the Lane of Bentley pedigree is missing, but other examples of his methods remain, among which is his abbreviated form of 'William', Willm, (the // crossed as a sign of abbreviation, and the m with a long tail). This is easily read 'Withy' and we may assume that the compiler of the pedigree (probably Shaw), finding he already had a William Lane (the third son), puts 'Withy' among the daughters. He fired this shot: 'Withy Lane=Peters', about the year 1790. That its repercussion still subsists may be shown in the latest edition of Burke's Landed Gentry, under 'Lane of King's Bromley'. Few people can have christened their daughters after a misprint; but it remained for the late Mr. J. H. V. Lane unconsciously to do so (in Katharyn Withy Lane, born 1906) apparently under the impression that an old family name was in danger of dying out.

1 Allan Fea, After Worcester Flight, 1904, p. 28. CROXALL, STAFFS. AN AIR PHOTOGRAPH OF A DESERTED MEDIEVAL VILLAGE J. W. WHISTON

StaffordshirePLATE 1 SERVES TO illustrate two items in the Society's 1964 programme, the excursion on 27 June to Croxall1 and aerial photography about which Mr. James Pickering spoke to the Society at the Civic Evening on 16 October. Aerial photography was the first scientific aid used by archaeologists. It was developed by the late O. G. S. Crawford, the first Archaeological Officer of the Ordnance Survey, and today it remains one of the most useful of the scientific aids. Plate 1 is a good example of an air photograph and was taken by the R.A.F. in the late afternoon of 8 December 1948. The features which members will recognize are the hall, church, dovecot, Dryden's Walk and deserted medieval village; the tumulus is hidden by the shadows of trees. The modern hall is on the site of an earlier and larger hall. Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I, stayed here on 7/8 July 1643 on her journey from the north to join the King at Edgehill2. On 8 July she went from Croxall to stay at Walsall and then, via King's Norton, to Stratford-upon-Avon, where she stayed at New Place as guest of Susanna Hall, widow of Dr. John Hall and the eldest daughter of Shakespeare3. The church contains monuments to the Curzons of Croxall and the Hortons of Catton. Among these is one to Lady Wilmot-Horton, who was the subject of Byron's She Walks in Beauty like the Night, and to her husband Sir William Wilmot-Horton who was involved in Byron's affairs and took aSamplen active part in theCounty suppression of the poet's memoirs. The tumulus, which is so marked on the Ordnance Survey map, is now considered by the O.S. to be a motte, although no trace of a bailey can be found in the many irregularities in the adjacent field. Dryden's Walk is named after the poet and dramatist, who was a friend of the sixth Duke of Dorset, who held Croxall in the seventeenth century. The Duke was one of Dryden's patrons but in 1688/9 on the accession of William and Mary, because Dryden was a Roman Catholic, the Duke as Lord Chamberlain and member of the Council had to remove him from his official appointment as Poet Laureate and Historiographer Royal. This deprived Dryden of his main source of income but the Duke generously relieved his financial difficulty by a personal gift of an allowance equal to the salary4. Dryden was in StaffordshireStudies5 in the 1680s, at Trentham the seat of another patron Sir William Leveson Gower, at Sir Charles Wolseley's, and at the Sneyd's at Keele6. It is probable that he also visited Little Wyrley, the home of Dr. Phineas Fowke, who contributed a translation of the life of Phocion to Dryden's Plutarch's Lives (1683). Later, however, Fowke was a strong critic of Dryden because of his change to the Roman Catholic faith7. Although there is no documentary

1 National Grid Reference SK. 198136. The photograph in pi. 1 is printed with the south at the top of the page, so that the banks and depressions show correctly and not in reverse. • W. Dugdale, Life, Diary and Correspondence, ed. W. Hamper, 1827. 3 Eliot Warburton, Memoirs of Prince Rupert and the Cavaliers, 1849, ii, p. 227. 4 Sam. Johnson, Lives of the Poets . . . Dryden, 1779-1781, World's Classics edn., 1961, p. 270: C. E. Ward, The Life of John Dryden, 1961, p. 241. 5 Until 1894, Croxall was partially in Derbyshire; the counties of Derby and Stafford being separated by the River Mease. 6 J. M. Osborn, John Dryden, Some Biographical Facts and Problems, 1940, pp. 200, 204, 249. ' British Museum Add. MS. 36707, f. 11, letter to James Harrington of the Inner Temple, London. Staffordshire

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Plate 1 Croxall (Staffordshire). Air photograph, 8 Dec. 1948 facing p. 46 DESERTED MEDIEVAL VILLAGE SITE AT AMINGTON, WARWICKSHIRE JAMES PICKERING

IN THE EARLY SUMMER of 1965 crop marks in a field adjacent to Amington Old Hall Staffordshireand its fish stews (National Grid Referenc e SK 232056) were clearly visible from the air and the photographs taken show that it is most likely to be a deserted medieval village (pi. la). Amington is recorded in the Domesday Book as Ermendone and is, therefore, a site with a long history of habitation. The farmer (Mr. J. R. Gilman) had recently filled in some of the depressions in the field with top-soil, previous to ploughing, and this may have accentuated some of the crop marks. Although many deserted medieval villages have been recorded in the south of Warwick• shire, there are few in the northern part. The area around Amington is not very productive of crop marks and those recorded must be due to freak conditions. It is probable that there are other unidentified sites in the area, as a number have been recorded not far away across the border in Staffordshire at Croxall, Fisherwick, Haselour, Statfold, Syerscote and Thorpe Constantine. See pp. 46 and 49.

TOLL HOUSESample, JAMES BRIDGECounty, DARLASTON , STAFFS. J. W. WHISTON

ONE OF THE LAST Walsall toll houses, at James Bridge, was demolished in 1963. It was situated near Darlaston (James Bridge) railway station at the north-east angle of the junction of the Walsall-Darlaston road and the road to Bentley Mill. It was an unpretentious square brick building with two storeys and had not been occupied for a number of years. National Grid Reference SO 98929748. The building has received no notice in any guide books and the only description is by Blay in his pamphlet published in 1932. He wrote: This tollhouse is the only one still standing on its original site at thStudiese end of Darlaston road near the railway bridge and about ten yards beyond the Borough boundary. It is a square building with one upper room, now reached by means of a ladder. In front there was originally a semi-circular arched access leading to the door, and forming a shelter, but this has been removed to increase the size of the lower room. At the rear of the building there was a pantry, a brewhouse, a baking oven, and a closet. The house is now used as a workshop for basket-making by a blind home-worker named Joseph K. Taylor, of Wisemore1. The first Ordnance Survey map (1834) shows the toll house on the west side of the road junction. It seems that, when the railway was constructed in 1837, the line of the Walsall- Darlaston road was altered to make the approach to the bridge which crosses the railway and it is probable that the toll house was moved to its final position at that time. Two photographs of the building in 1932 are shown in Blay's pamphlet. Plate lb is a view of the building about 1960; a part of James Bridge can be seen on the right-hand side of the photograph.

1 W. F. Blay, The Story of Walsall Turnpike Roads and Tollgates, Walsall Historical Society, 1932, p. 12. Staffordshire

Plate Samplela Amington (Warwickshire)County. Air photograph, 196 5

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Plate lb Toll House, James Bridge, Darlaston (Staffordshire), 1960 DESERTED MEDIEVAL VILLAGES OF STAFFORDSHIRE StaffordshireAND ADJACEN T AREAS

THE FOLLOWING LIST is based on the records of the Deserted Medieval Village Research Group: Secretary, Mr. John Hurst, F.S.A., 67 Gloucester Road, London N.W.I.

1 in. O.S. Map No. Nat. Grid Ref.

STAFFORDSHIRE BLITHFIELD 120 SK 040240 BLORE Ill SK 137495 CHARTLEY 120 SK 006285 CHILLINGTON 119 SJ 865068 CROXALL1 120 SK 198136 DEANSLOW — * FISHERWICK 120 SK 180100 FREEFORD 120 SK 135075 HASELOUR 120 SK 205108 OKEOVER SampleCountyIll SK 158482 PACKINGTON 120 SK 164063 PATSHULL 119 SJ 809010 PILLATON 119 SJ 942130 SANDON 119 SJ 953295 SHUGBOROUGH 119 SJ 990217 STATFOLD 120 SK 238073 SYERSCOTE 120 SK 223076 THORPE CONSTANTINE 120 SK 260089 TAMHORN 120 SK 180070 WYCHNOR 120 StudiesSK 175160

SOUTH DERBYSHIRE ARLESTON 120 SK 335297 CATTON 120 SK 207155 DRAKELOW 120 SK 240200* FOREMARK 120 SK 330265 HOON (Tutbury) 120 SK 224300* SINFIN 120 SK 342312

WEST LEICESTERSHIRE ALTON 121 SK 390148 AMBION 121 SK 400003 ANDRESKIRK 121 SK 392222

1 See p. 46. Staffordshire

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Studies CHURCH HOUSE, ABBOTS BROMLEY, STAFFS. F. W. B. CHARLES

CHURCH HOUSE1, on the corner of Abbots Bromley's main street, Bagot Street, and StaffordshireChurch Lane, has been restored over the past two years. Before this, it was structurally sound but seriously in need of repair as well as a new use to prevent dilapidation and decay. This problem was solved by the Reverend C. J. A. Payton, Vicar of Abbots Bromley, who not only conceived of its conversion for church meeting rooms combined with a caretaker's house, but raised the funds to make his ideas practicable. Having written a report on the probable history and condition of the building for the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings in April 1962, I carried out the restoration and conversion for Mr. Payton. The house was formally opened on 18 May 1967. The cost of the work was £5,750.

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1 National Grid Reference SK 079246.